Art of Procurement

Procurement has been swept up in nearly non-stop change for the last two decades, and yet, we continue to talk about the need for transformation? Is this due to their failures or their successes? In Conrad Snover’s opinion, it is a little bit of both. Conrad Snover is the President of ProcureAbility and he was joined by Betsy Pancik, their Vice President of Customer Success, for a recent AOP Live session. They believe that how procurement is structured can either help them achieve overall business alignment and an improved customer experience, or can slow processes down and hold them back from delivering full value.  In this AOP Live-based session, Conrad Snover and Betsy Pancik answer live audience questions about: What a procurement operating model is and how that aligns with procurement’s organizational structure The evolving requirements of procurement talent and how the available skill sets may need to change during and after transformation  Which transformational concerns can be addressed - and even advanced - by selecting the right procurement operating model

As digital transformation progresses, corporate leadership teams are increasing their focus on the quality and availability of data. Spend analysis is just one internal data resource in a sea of data ecosystems, but it has the potential to serve as the foundational connection point for all procurement analytics. For this special series, Art of Procurement partnered with Sievo and Buyers Meeting Point to take a deep dive into procurement data ecosystems. We will explore how procurement leaders can meet their analytical requirements while also exploiting the full cross-functional value of data - data that enables corporate growth and competitive advantage.  Every two weeks between April and July 2021, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner will speak with senior level executives at Sievo, riskmethods, Basware, supplier.io, and EcoVadis - companies at the forefront of the procurement data revolution. Listeners can also download the ebook behind the podcast series in the Links section below. In this episode, Kelly Barner and Neeraj Shah, CEO of supplier.io, discuss the new sense of urgency many companies have around supplier diversity programs and the data management requirements that creates. The diversity-specific transformation journey many (especially large) companies have taken and what has changed Procurement’s responsibility to the suppliers that are brought into the bid process through supplier diversity outreach The role that spend analytics data plays in advancing supplier diversity and tracking progress against states goals, both internally and in publicly-released reports

The book “Profit from Procurement: How to Add 30% to Your Bottom Line by Breaking Down Silos” was recently published by Alex Klein, Simon Whatson, and Jose Oliveira of procurement consultancy Efficio. To mark the official release, they invited AOP Founder and Managing Director Philip Ideson to moderate their virtual book launch.  In this podcast conversation, the co-authors discuss the key themes of the book which was written to help inspire action and provide a roadmap for readers to increase profitability through the levers of strategic procurement.  The key themes of the book highlighted and discussed by Philip, Alex, Simon, and Jose are: Why challenging times - such as a pandemic or a global recession - represent the best opportunity for procurement to draw attention to their capabilities The importance of using the right language when procurement talks to the business, aligning our thoughts with their objectives How procurement can address ‘value beyond savings’ while still acknowledging that savings is important

Heiko Schwarz discusses the balance of automation and human skills in supply chain risk management. The importance of responsiveness, resilience, and data accuracy in procurement success. Exploring the challenges and collaborative approach needed in managing risks within supply chains. Leveraging technology for actionable procurement insights and enhancing supply chain resilience through network collaboration.

Marketing has always been a difficult category for procurement to bring under management. In the earliest days, it was placed beyond our scope, and more recently, the lack of alignment with the business around ‘value’ versus savings has created an impasse. As a result, marketing operations spend (including branded merchandise, print, and point of sale) have fallen victim to fragmentation, maverick spending, and underdeveloped category strategies.    In this episode, which is based on a recent AOP Live session with Phil Schoonmaker, CEO of SupplyLogic, we discuss the current state of the marketing supply chain and how procurement can assess their baseline environment using both quantitative and qualitative data. How procurement may have been missing out on the opportunity to have a greater top line impact by defining the marketing spend category too narrowly The importance of achieving total price transparency across suppliers for specific product and service categories How Phil sees leading procurement organizations giving control back to requestors in the marketing category

As digital transformation progresses, corporate leadership teams are increasing their focus on the quality and availability of data. Spend analysis is just one internal data resource in a sea of data ecosystems, but it has the potential to serve as the foundational connection point for all procurement analytics. For this special series, Art of Procurement partnered with Sievo and Buyers Meeting Point to take a deep dive into procurement data ecosystems. We will explore how procurement leaders can meet their analytical requirements while also exploiting the full cross-functional value of data - data that enables corporate growth and competitive advantage.  Every two weeks between April and July 2021, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner will speak with senior level executives at Sievo, riskmethods, Basware, supplier.io, and EcoVadis - companies at the forefront of the procurement data revolution. Listeners can also download the ebook behind the podcast series in the Links section below. In this episode, Philip Ideson and Sievo Co-Founder and CEO Sammeli Sammalkorpi discuss procurement’s expanding mandate from the business and how - with the help of quality data and analytics - they can deliver above and beyond expectations: Why it has been so difficult up to this point to get a solid grasp on procurement analytics The evidence suggesting that humans and automation will be working in partnership for a long time How procurement can manage and benefit from the data ecosystem that surrounds them

At Mastermind LIVE Spring 2021, Art of Procurement had the opportunity to bring together a visionary panel of procurement leaders to discuss the urgency of the present moment and what can and should be done to support corporate growth. The panel included:  Adam Brown, Senior Manager of Procurement Transformation & Head of the Procurement Garage at BT Amy Fong, Vice President, Sourcing and Vendor Management for Everest Group Keith Browning, Managing Director, Supply Chain Management at Delta Air Lines Keith Hausmann, Globality’s Chief Revenue Officer Reunan Varene, Global Head of Procurement at Dropbox Facilitated by Philip Ideson, this discussion-based session was focused on procurement’s sense of urgency as we pursue a growth agenda, the need for supplier collaboration and mutually beneficial third-party relationships, and the strategies and technology that will empower procurement to scale. While we heard some reflection on the challenges of the past year, most of the discussion was forward looking, taking procurement’s capabilities today and building on them. In this episode, which was recorded live at Mastermind LIVE Spring, Philip asked the panelists about: How they each define growth - both in terms of how they are developing procurement’s capabilities and in how that empowers them to contribute to the corporate top line Ways procurement can better communicate and demonstrate their top-line, value-oriented investments to the rest of the business The absolute criticality of partnering with suppliers while seeing them as much more than suppliers: current customers, potential customers, and/or sources of differentiation and market expertise

Procurement’s organizational structure is as important as the processes and technology they use. Their operational model has to position them to deliver what the company needs most - requirements that may not remain fixed. When the business needs something different from procurement, their structure will have to evolve as well. Robert Bonnar is currently the Global Procurement Director at SHV Energy, but he has worked in procurement in a number of industries. As he puts it, “I did cars, drugs, booze, and now energy.” But even that colorful description doesn't capture the breadth of his experience. He has also focused in a number of procurement disciplines, including direct and indirect procurement and supplier-enabled innovation. In this conversation, Robert speaks with Host Philip Ideson about: Whether it is possible to bring innovative or high-performing suppliers from one vertical to another, and what procurement needs to do to help them succeed His perspective on how to manage the complex puzzle of qualitative KPIs, quantitative KPIs, and data quality How procurement can use access to information to ease the burden placed on stakeholders and shorten the time to results

According to the Procurement 2021 Pulse Check by WNS Denali and ProcureCon Europe, only 9% of CPOs are satisfied with the current level of stakeholder alignment in their organization.  9%. In 2021. I was so surprised by that number that I decided to dedicate this episode of the podcast to it. In this podcast, we’ll explore the differences between what the alignment journey and the corresponding operating model changes mean for small, mid-sized, and larger companies, as well as the solutions to be considered. As you listen, think about how aligned YOUR procurement function is with the business and what you might do to address it.

In today’s fast-paced world, imagery is just as important for communicating meaning as the words we use. That is why the Mastermind LIVE Spring logo includes a clock with its hands set at 5 minutes until midnight.  This is a moment for urgency - but not panic. The business world needs leaders, and the AOP team firmly believes that those leaders are currently in the ranks of the procurement profession. Stepping up to lead is a serious decision, not one to be taken lightly. That is why we have built a very purposeful agenda for our spring event, one that will inspire you, help you feel the strength of the community, and prepare to take action. In this special podcast episode, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner and joined by Gravitas Detroit President and Founder Jan Griffiths, who will be the MC for Mastermind LIVE Spring on April 13th and 14th from 10am - 1pm ET. Listen in and you will hear: The AOP leadership team’s perspective on this specific moment and how we plan to supporting you and your journey through the speakers, panels, and topics we have chosen Which sessions or speakers Jan, Philip, and Kelly are most looking forward to and why How to access all of the sessions, either live or on demand, for free through the rest of the month of April